Back to high school one more time with this (potentially) final
slice of pie.

And the drawcard this time appears to be the reunion of all the
main cast from the first film, all the way back in 1999.

But since their raucous days back in high school, the gang's all
moved on - even if only in years. All in their early 30s now,
they're all getting by with life.

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For Jim and Michelle (Biggs and Hannigan) it's about trying to
find time for any kind of a sex life now they've got a young kid -
and as the pre-title credits reveal, that's a little difficult
unless you're talking about internet porn or some time alone in the
bath. Kevin's (Thomas) now married and works from home; Oz (Klein)
is a sportscaster, who had a brief moment to shine during a TV
dance show - and Stifler (William Scott) is, well, still Stifler -
oversexed, immature and working as a temp.

Meanwhile, Jim's dad is living life after their mum died and
Finch is a backpacking Jack Kerouac of a guy...

All of the gang's back in East Great Falls for their High School
Reunion - and their return sees the group determined to have one
last blast.

If you like the American Pie series and its original stars, you
will quite simply adore American Reunion with its mix of smut,
innuendo, gross out behaviour and sex talk. Stifler's mainly the
drawcard in the silliness stakes - still pulling the immaturity
card and a little bit of an embarassment to the guys who all
believe they've grown up.

If you didn't care for any of those elements originally, then to
be honest, there's little for you here.

But there is a real feeling in this film of a little something
from the halcyon days of the franchise being recaptured - and I
think if we're all a little honest, we've all had friendships where
we're a little bit embarrassed about someone's behaviour after all
these years (hint - if you think you don't know anyone like that,
it's highly probable you're the embarrassment).

But if you put aside the smutty antics and desperation of men in
their 30s acting like horny teens, there's actually some very real
scenarios dropped into this film, making it feel in places like the
most mature American Pie ever.

Scenes between Jim and his dad as they negotiate his father's
loss and attempts to find someone to spend the rest of his life
with have a real poignancy and heart which it's hard not to
appreciate; likewise, the issues facing Jim and Michelle over being
in a rut and finding life getting in the way are realistic and
sensitively handled for a series like this. Well, as sensitive as
any American Pie film could be.

All of the gang's back for this one and the writers manage to
negotiate a full cast and don't appear to neglect any of them in
terms of story - hence the rather long two hour film. It's not
without its lulls and there's occasionally the feeling of
repetition in the humour and situations, but there's closure to
this latest life of the franchise and I'm betting many will enjoy
this (hopefully) final slice of pie and file it under guilty
pleasure.

It's not sensational and it won't change your world, but it will
help you pass the night with a group of mates in the cinema.